Though, being my first L lens and all, I decided to conduct an impromptu "formal" test just to see the differences between it and my 28mm 1.8 under relatively controlled conditions. Suffice it to say, my jaw hit the floor and I had to mop up the drool. Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a pixel peeper, gearhead, or test chart shooter. The following results are 100% crops from the original images, representing about 50% of the frame (this means the edges of the test shots are actually mid-frame). Shot on a 5D Mark II, center AF point. No processing other than crop and jpeg compression. The 28 1.8 image was 1/3 stop underexposed, since I was geeking out so much over my new 24mm that I forgot 1.8 is actually 2/3 stop slower.

Canon 28 1.8 @ f/1.8:ISO 100 1/50

Canon 24 1.4 II @ f/1.4:ISO 100 1/60

My only regret is that I didn't spring for one of these babies sooner!

You are so right about the 24mm f/1.4 L II. It's one of those treasures in the Canon lens lineup. I barely ever use my 16-35mm L II now, and it's because of the 24mm. My lens has been dusty, taped with duct tape in conditions where the hood might drop into an abyss, and through a lot. And it's still so sharp and beautiful all over the images that it takes that I love it even more.

If this is your first L lens, you've gone straight to the top shelf with this one. The 24 f/1.4II is a totally awesome piece of glass. Right now I'm doing PP on a job I shot at a large, new supermarket for an advert, and I shot most of the job available light with the 24 f/1.4II on a 5D3. Quality, fast lenses can change the way we shoot, especially with the high iso performance of cameras like the 5D3. 1000iso is the new 200iso!

Trouble is, now that you have tasted the best, it's hard to work with the rest...

high iso performance of cameras like the 5D3. 1000iso is the new 200iso!

For truth on the High ISO?

I have a 5D3 coming on Friday. I am shooting a musical group 2x per week. On my T4i I was shooting tonight at 1600 ISO, 1/50 sec. I need 1-2 stops more, to 3200, 6400, or more on the 5D3. That is the one reson I bought it.

Can you compare to the T3i/7D? Will 6400 on the 5D3 be better than 1600 on T3i/T2i/7D?

On the "L" lenses: I had 7 L's, plus 6 other lenses. I decided to downsize to only 3+- lenses. It didn't work - I am right back up there, with the 24-70, 70-200 2.8, 70-200 4.0, 24-105, 45 TS-E, 90 TS-E, and need to add some prime L's.

Once you use good glass, everything else sucks! The 40mm pancake is right in there though, very nice.

Looking forward to the 24-70 II! If I had to choose 1 lens for life, it would be the 24-70.

But good Canon glass holds it's value very well. As prices go up over 5-8 years, you might even break even on it.

high iso performance of cameras like the 5D3. 1000iso is the new 200iso!

For truth on the High ISO?

I have a 5D3 coming on Friday. I am shooting a musical group 2x per week. On my T4i I was shooting tonight at 1600 ISO, 1/50 sec. I need 1-2 stops more, to 3200, 6400, or more on the 5D3. That is the one reson I bought it.

Can you compare to the T3i/7D? Will 6400 on the 5D3 be better than 1600 on T3i/T2i/7D?

On the "L" lenses: I had 7 L's, plus 6 other lenses. I decided to downsize to only 3+- lenses. It didn't work - I am right back up there, with the 24-70, 70-200 2.8, 70-200 4.0, 24-105, 45 TS-E, 90 TS-E, and need to add some prime L's.

Once you use good glass, everything else sucks! The 40mm pancake is right in there though, very nice.

Looking forward to the 24-70 II! If I had to choose 1 lens for life, it would be the 24-70.

But good Canon glass holds it's value very well. As prices go up over 5-8 years, you might even break even on it.

Good luck!Michael

ISO 6400 on the 5d3 is quite usable for web, especially live music where people are very forgiving of grainy or much less than perfect images. Not ever owning the T3i/T2i/7D, I'd say it's likely that ISO 6400 is probably as good, or better (in terms of look & feel of the noise) as ISO 1600 on those bodies. This shot is taking at ISO 10,000 on EF-135@f/2.0, 1/100. Definitely not an ideal situation, and lots of noise in the dark spaces on the water. But overall, pretty usable for what it is.